A slight deviation from its original poetic title and as a writer and poet, I am sort of, entitle to my own poetic justice so to speak thus I will, from now on, provide its own “Footprints by the sands” thought. One early morning, while photoshooting the sunrise, I came across two fishermen from the sea. I hurriedly went unto them and check their catch, it was not many, in fact, it can only be sufficient for one meal but they are grateful as they beam at me, flashing a sincere smile when I went to check their catch.
When I went to take photos of the surroundings, both of them routinely carried their Bangka from the shore and to the waiting fisherfolks too, perhaps their wives and children there too. I never even dared explore the place they went to but was struck at where they left and I stood. The moment I look down, I saw footprints and the lines that resemble that of a straight and narrow path. It conjures upon my head some time for personal reflection and so I took photos of it, taking every angle which gives me more at ease and comforts, perhaps contentment.
The reason perhaps why I saw this as a reflection of sort is because the footprints are not mine but of two fishermen, lowly and meek, never even went to college, earn a degree, get a career outside the sea. Perhaps, their toil surrounds primarily at how life, so simple, yet, when lived freely, can bring satisfaction and contentment. The pivotal role of our lives to others and in this particular example is endless. I never knew these two fishermen; they even do not know me. I took photos of what reminds me constantly of my own humanity, that when we are lowly and humbled, then our footprints are more lucidly created, leaving marks not only by the sands but also in the hearts of those who see us through our lives.
Pains, sorrow, discontents, distrust, distraction, hopelessness and misery are what reminds us that we are human ergo we felt it but what makes us great is our ability to go through it, pace by pace, page by page, renewed, reborn and strengthened. I have friends who nurse a broken heart; undergoes physical pain, discomforts and many others, they need me more than they needed themselves. I knew I need them more than myself too when I am on my highways of life. This is how we define humanity for us. We co-exist because we care and it is beyond our own grasp that through what we do, think and act, we leave footprints, for others to also follow through. We leave inspiration for them to see us through and we leave footprints by the sand, not to perpetuate eternally but to leave imprints of it momentarily, enough to create reflections, one that continually defines us not as “I” but rather as “we”.
